David Parsons, of Bend, uses a shovel to put out hot spots in one of the brush fires along U.S. Highway 97 near China Hat Road on Tuesday in Bend. Parsons was driving by just after the fires began and stopped to help put them out. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin) - Bulletin

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David Parsons, of Bend, uses a shovel to put out hot spots in one of the brush fires along U.S. Highway 97 near China Hat Road on Tuesday in Bend. Parsons was driving by just after the fires began and stopped to help put them out. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin)2843861

Burning material from the exhaust was blown to the highway shoulder, starting the fires.

No charges have been filed against the driver.

Neighbors who gathered near the corner of Parrell and China Hat roads said a woman pulled the motorhome she was driving off the highway and parked it there.

She got out and told them she was having brake issues but didn’t have anything to do with the fires.

As firefighters continued to squelch hot spots, investigators swarmed the Pace Arrow, crawling under the motorhome after a tow truck lifted its front.

The motorhome had Oregon plates and an adult tricycle on the back.

The driver of the motorhome and a man who came to pick her up, who said he was the owner of the motorhome, declined to comment.

Along with snarling traffic, the fires put up a plume of smoke visible from many parts of Bend and south of town on the highway and put a scare into people living in homes near the vacant land burned by the blazes.

A crowd of neighbors gathered near the motorhome and people exchanged tales of the close call.

“I’ve lived here eight years, and I always worried about this catching on fire,” said Erinn Ross, 45, as she pointed to the vacant land covered in dry grass and the occasional pine tree.

New to the neighborhood and having moved to town a month ago from San Jose, California, Anita Blatner, 53, said she was glad fire crews responded quickly.